Powermatcher

The PowerMatcher is a smart grid coordination mechanism. It balances Distributed Energy Resources (DER) and (flexible) loads. It can also be herded among Demand Response systems, but with a radical new vision. A vision we call Smart Transactive Energy.

The PowerMatcher concept is based on the micro-economic principle of demand and supply. Supply and demand is one of the most fundamental concepts of economics and it is the backbone of a market economy. The PowerMatcher core application provides the market mechanism for the determination of the market equilibrium, while the devices, DER and flexible loads, work as actors for demand and/or supply.

The PowerMatcher has been successfully tested and implemented in numerous test-beds in the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark, showing benefits for all stakeholders in the system, the prosumer, grid operator, and aggregator. From these test-beds we have developed a new learning; which we call the Energy Flexibility Interface (EFI), even more fundamental than the PowerMatcher.

The term “transactive energy” is used here to refer to techniques for managing the generation, consumption or flow of electric power within an electric power system through the use of economic or market-based constructs while considering grid reliability constraints. The term “transactive” comes from considering that decisions are made based on a value.